Head of Physical Performance, Medicine and Nutrition - Men's

We have a great opportunity in our Men's Technical department for a Head of Physical Performance, Medicine and Nutrition (PPMN) to provide vision, direction, strategic and operational leadership to the England Men's PPMN department, creating competitive advantage through optimal preparation of England Men's players, across all Men's teams.

TO APPLY

We have partnered with Elite Performance Partners in order to support this recruitment, in order to apply please send your cover letter and CV including the 'The FA, Head of Physical Performance, Medicine and Nutrition' in the subject line

What You'll Do?

This is a key leadership role within the men's technical directorate that will continue to drive the PPMN department forward, playing its integrated and complimentary role to the wider performance services and technical directorate. This role leads the Physical, Medical and Nutrition Teams whose Vision involves affecting the behaviours of England players to effectively deliver inter-disciplinary strategies that are bespoke to international football. Collaborating with coaches, combining with MDT's and influencing external partners, in service of the outcome - WINNING ENGLAND TEAMS

The Physical Performance, Medical and Nutrition Team are a full time and consultant group of practitioners who help players and multi-disciplinary teams win major tournaments by inspiring, empowering and developing players to identify and overcome the physical gap that exists between senior international, club and international pathway football.

The PPMN department works as a team to develop and deliver a consistent and aligned philosophy on camp. This aims to identify and develop talent by generating a deeper understanding about the physical, medical and nutritional attributes and behaviours of English players, providing them with an inspiring, immersive, educational experience on camp and building deep connections closely with the clubs.

• The strategic and operational leadership of world class support services across all responsible functions, to underpin the England Development teams pathway and England Senior teams ongoing success.
• Lead the development and delivery of an overall strategy for physical performance delivery to England Men's teams which encompasses best practice in all aspects of Physical, Medical and Nutritional preparation for international football - The FA Physical Performance, Medicine and Nutrition Curriculum.
• Lead the development and implementation of multi-disciplinary planning processes (including tournament performance plans and integrated camp plans/reviews) across all England Men's teams.
• Develop close working relationships and integrate with peers to ensure collaborative, complimentary and cohesive delivery to players throughout camps and in preparation for tournaments, with the aim of players being 'Ready' for international football not just available.
• Recruitment, development and retention of Medical staff, Physical performance coaches, Nutritionist and related services for all teams.
• Foster close working relationship based on collaboration and sharing with peers in professional clubs to enable knowledge of and management of international players into and out of international duty.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of projects aimed at supporting winning England Teams such as the Senior Men's Euro and World Cup tournament performance plans.
• Contribute to the strategic direction and strategy of the Men's Technical division, participate in working groups and other governance structures which ensure the effective exchange of knowledge and practice between England Men's, Women's and Disability teams, FA Education and wider FA stakeholders to ensure the success of all elements
• Provide Technical support and ultimately oversee the technical content of the FA Educational pathway for the disciplines of Medicine, Physical Performance and nutrition, in close collaboration with FA Education colleagues.
• Contributor, advocate and ambassador for St George's Park, working with the team ensuring optimum environments for England teams.
• Owns and manages the business case and budget for the PPMN Department.
• Execute additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing can be maintained.
• As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance, the successful candidate will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check.

What You'll Need?

• Extensive experience and demonstrable achievements as a leader in elite sport.
• Broad knowledge of Sports Medicine & Sports Science support services, and High-Performance programme delivery with elite athletes.
• High level management skills, in relation to monitoring and assessing effectiveness of a multidisciplinary support programme (people, systems and processes)
• Extensive experience in delivering innovative but practical solutions in elite sporting environments.
• Proven ability to work within a high performance multi-disciplinary support team and contribute to solving complex performance problems and making robust recommendations and decisions.
• a specialism in one or more performance support disciplines.
• Experience in international sport and/or professional football

NB: You will also demonstrate strong written and verbal communication skills and an ability to work closely with internal and external stakeholders. You will display behaviours to maintain and enhance good relationships which will help develop The FA's positive professional profile across the business and wider industry.

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, in order to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
• Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
• A hybrid working model offering flexibility on where you work.

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

Our Organisation

The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.

The FA oversees England international teams across men's, women's, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Barclays FA Women's Super League, FA Women's Championship, and Vitality Women's FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.

We currently work within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary.

Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of either Wembley Stadium, St. George's Park or our Processing Centre, unless the role is advertised as a homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.

The FA, For All, For You

Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.

https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/about-the-fa/2021/fa_a-game-for-all-strategy.ashx

A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments - Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change - which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.